It has been a tough week for cricket, but not quite such a bad one as some of the headlines suggest. Imagine the bewilderment and dismay if Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif had been found not guilty at Southwark crown court. Then the game would have lost all credibility. As it is, a strong message of deterrence has been delivered and it is no longer possible for any young cricketer to plead ignorance of the dangers of entrapment by the fixers.

But now we hope that the emphasis changes. Perhaps the focus can be on the actual playing of the game. Everywhere there seems to be a Test match just finishing or just about to start. Even Zimbabwe have been playing – their game against New Zealand came to an end on Saturday. Only Bangladesh and England, nervously perched at the top of the table, are out of action.

Despite everything, Pakistan have the chance to win a "home" series in the Middle East against Sri Lanka; to achieve that they must avoid defeat in Sharjah on Monday. While Mohammad Amir languishes in an English young offenders' institution, the 21-year-old Junaid Khan, another left-armer, has already taken 12 wickets in the series. Pakistan's conveyor belt of cricketers is nowhere near so clinical or well‑resourced as England's but they keep turning up precocious youngsters against the odds. At 37 Misbah-ul-Haq is not one of them but is proving a fine replacement for Butt as captain.

Theoretically England may be in the unusual position of wanting Australia to win this week. On Wednesday in Cape Town there is the first match of a two-Test series between Australia and South Africa – we will soon be pining that this particular contest could not go on longer. An Australian victory would clearly hinder South Africa's ambition to overhaul England as No1 in the Test table (they are currently second).

This is an appetising series. We know South Africa are strong and they have taken steps to improve their side. After a five-year absence, most of which he spent as a Kolpak player for Yorkshire, Jacques Rudolph, still just 30 years of age, is on the brink of playing his 36th Test. Here is a quirky example of the Kolpak system assisting South Africa. After his years with Yorkshire, we may well discover that Rudolph is a more complete Test batsman now than he was in 2006. At no cost to the South Africans, and with a lucrative salary for himself, Rudolph has been to the famous Headingley finishing school.

In the same game another character familiar on these shores may be making his Test debut. Imran Tahir, whose list of "major teams represented" currently numbers 20, is in the South Africa squad and may be preferred to the more mundane Paul Harris in the final XI. Tahir must be the most ubiquitous cricketer in the game's history. He knows enough to befuddle the Australian tail, if not the upper order.

In the meantime Australia are in an interesting state of flux. They are in the process of appointing a head coach with expanded responsibilities – not for the first time in recent years they seem to be aping the English model. They have suggested that this is a global search, which is noteworthy since they have never had a non‑Australian in charge.

In South Africa Troy Cooley, a ubiquitous coach, is in control on a temporary basis, but he says that he is not interested in the top job permanently. Alongside him are Steve Rixon and Justin Langer, who may well be.

Meanwhile Andrew Hilditch has been replaced by John Inverarity as Australia's national selector. It is not often that a 67-year-old embarks on a new job and in other circumstances such an appointment might spark some pommy derision. However, Inverarity should not be underestimated, as the cricketers of Kent and Warwickshire, where he coached briefly but with marked success, would testify. So could Dennis Lillee and Rodney Marsh, whom Inverarity captained in Western Australia in the 70s. He has one of the sharpest cricket brains in the world and is more than capable of spanning the generations. He will be good.

On the field in Cape Town there will be the unusual sight of an old Australia captain returning to the ranks. Ricky Ponting still cannot resist the challenge of playing and will be giving unswerving support to his replacement, Michael Clarke, unlike Simon Katich, who has been unable to hide his anger at being dumped. There are other familiar names in the lineup: a Hughes (that is the unorthodox Phil, no relation to Kim or Merv) and a Marsh (that is Shaun, son of Geoff, not Rodney). The latest spinner is Nathan Lyon, a 23‑year‑old who bowls off-breaks for South Australia and has 26 first-class wickets to his name (Imran Tahir has 585).

This will be a fascinating tussle to watch, but a tough one to call. Which may not be the case in India. On Sunday in Delhi a three-Test series against West Indies gets under way and the hosts are strong favourites. The Indian team is barely recognisable from the one-day side, which recently mauled England. The galácticos are back – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag – in the knowledge that there are several youngsters eyeing their places.

So let us hope that the cricket sparkles all around the globe. We have had enough of courtroom dramas.• This article was amended on 7 November. Due to an editing error, Geoff Marsh was originally described as a golfer